A transfer device for transferring toner (developer) carried on a peripheral surface of a photoconductor drum (image carrying member) onto a recording sheet (recording medium) being conveyed along a sheet conveyance path (medium conveyance path) may be embodied as an image forming apparatus which includes a guide plate for guiding the recording sheet toward the photoconductor drum, and a sponge for supporting a rear end (at a trailing edge) of the sheet which has come off the guide plate. Typically, a distal end of the guide plate is disposed in a position proximate to the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum while an upper surface of the sponge is disposed in a position remote from the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum.
In this configuration where the upper surface of the sponge is disposed in a position remote from the peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum, the sheet with its rear end supported on the upper surface of the sponge would be in a position too remote from the photoconductor drum, such that an undesirable electric discharge could occur between the photoconductor drum and the sheet, which would disadvantageously cause the toner to scatter over the sheet which has not yet reached a predetermined transfer position (this phenomenon is called “pre-transfer”).